Perceptions Of Customers Through Effective Marketing Strategies | Nike Inc.

Marketing Mix

Discuss About The Perceptions Of Customers Through Effective?

The company that has been selected for the evaluation of the marketing mix is Nike Inc. The report includes the theoretical concepts of 8ps’ of marketing mix along with its implementation in the company. Moreover, the report includes the evaluation of the marketing strategies which include the competition and broader contemporary issues that are faced by the marketers of the company today. The company offers the products like shoes, apparel, and equipment along with the accessories but the report focuses on the Shoes of Nike.

Nike Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is involved in the design, manufacturing, marketing and sales of the footwear, apparel, accessories, equipment, and services. The company came into existence in the year 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as Blue Ribbon Sports (Nike, 2018). In the year 2014, the brand was valued at $19 billion and known as one of the valuable brands among sports businesses. The company had acquired few footwear companies which include Cole Haan, Umbro, and many others. Though, the company later sold Umbro in 2012 and Cole Haan in the year 2013 (Nike, 2018). Currently, the company is having the subsidiary of Hurley International.

The marketing mix is a base model in marketing and it is well-defined as a set of marketing goals that the firm practices to pursue its marketing aims in the target. 8ps’ of marketing mix include product, price, distribution, promotion, people, processes, physical evidence and partnership (Patil and Bach, 2017). This marketing mix concept focuses on the Nike shoe that is the primary product of the company.

Product refers to as they think that is offered to the customer in the market. The company believes in providing the innovative and new products in the market such as Nike ‘Flyknit’ racer shoes, sneaker shoes and Nike women Air 2012. According to the survey that was conducted by Kent, approximately 47% of the girls or girls like to wear the shoes that meet the expectations of design, durability, protection and some others. All these requirements of the women or girls for a shoe are fulfilled by Nike through Women Air Max shoes (Gregory, 2017).

Core product: – The core product over here refers to the base product of the company that is a shoe that offers the safety and comfort to the consumer’s feet while performing the activities such as jogging, playing, running and walking. The company also provide the after sales services to the customers through this the customer can share their problems and feedbacks related to the product or brand. Nike also provides some of the offers to their customers that include loyalty bonus, reward points, and seasonal offers. Competitors (such as Adidas, Reebok) of the company also provide ensure that they are providing safety and comfort to their customers.

Product

Augmented product: – This level of the product include the additional benefits such as; a customer can customize the shoes considering the demand and can take the part in the Nike community. This is one of the competitive advantages of the company as this service is not provided by its competitors (Hollensen, 2015).

In the marketing mix, the price of the product and service refers to as the current price of the product in the market. The company follows the vertical integration strategy; this strategy is used by Nike to gain the control over its distributors to enhance the position of the company in the market (Bhasin, 2018). Along with this, the company is able to control the cost of the price of the manufactured goods. The company implements the value-based pricing strategy. It is a strategy in which the prices are kept by the company considering the customer’s willingness to pay for the shoe due to this the company keep the high prices of the product and earn maximum revenue. The price range of the shoes of Nike starts from $80 and reaches to $400. In the year 2014, the company successfully increased the prices of its product due to this the company generated high sales and revenue.

Distribution defines as the movement of product from the manufacturer to the end user. Nike shoes are available in numerous numbers of outlets not only in Australia but also across the world. The distribution of the products of the company is done through Nike town retail outlets, retailers of Nike shoes and Nike official online store (Keller, 2010). The company makes the product available with the use of the marketing and distribution channels. There are 3 levels of distribution channels which are given below: –

Nike follows these channels of distributions this helps the company in making the product available to the end users. This distribution channel fluctuates according to the need for the company.

Promotion is an activity that helps the company in generating the awareness related to the product in the market. The promotion is an effective strategy for the company that helps the company at the time of introducing the product into the market (Brohi, et. al, 2016). The major tools that are used by the company to promote the product include: –

Advertisement: – Advertisement is one of the effective and traditional methods that is used by the company to promote the product or services in the market. The company is depended on the promotion of product and it involves the celebrity endorsers such as professional athletes and sports teams (Roll, 2012). Though, this method of promoting a product is expensive but to create the impact on the large audience the company has to spend on the advertisement. Sometimes, the company also make use of the print or online advertisement to generate the awareness about their products and services.

Price

Personal selling: – Personal selling is a most effective tool to make the customer believe in the product that they are looking to buy. Personal selling is mostly done by the personnel of the companies but sometimes the retailers of the company also get involved in this personal selling activity of the company. The staff can create a good conversation with the customers that helps the company in generating the awareness about the product’s features and design along with that the conversation helps the staff members to understand the needs of the customers (Abrar, et.al, 2016). Considering the needs of the customers the staff can provide the best shoes and this leads to the customer satisfaction.

Sales and promotion: – Company provides different offers to its customers as this helps Nike to enhance the sales and revenue of the product. Generally, this promotional tool is used by the company when they didn’t find the appropriate sales in the particular quarter.

People in the marketing mix include staff and managing director of the company. It is essential for the companies to hire talented employees in this competitive world because they are part of the business offering which includes product and services. Nike hires the people who have basic knowledge of the shoes or knows how to deal with the customers along with that the company provides the training to the employees (Pitts, 2017). Training is essential for the employees due to this the employees of the company get to know more about the company and its products that the company offer in the market. People of the Nike are treated as a family member and the company provides the employee benefits to their staff members. In the year, there were approximately 74 thousand employees across the world. The number of employees is continuously increasing because the company is growing and expanding its business in numerous countries. Hence, there is need of the employees in each and every outlet of the company (Armstrong, et.al, 2014).

The company is bringing innovation in their product development process as it combines together the high-tech robots with the old-fashioned customer feedback. The company is having a sports research lab in Beaverton, Oregon where the research team tries to bring innovation in the footwear. Research performs the process to innovate the product that lowers an athlete’s body temperature and reduces customer energy expenditure (Shank, and Lyberger, 2014). In these research labs, the team adopts the da Vinci Surgical system concept using a copper mannequin and the company calls it Hal. Hal is built to provide as the human element in tests that include biomechanics, perception, physiology and athletic performance into a design. 

Distribution/Place

The research also listens to the customer and makes use of the advanced technology for the product testing which helps the research team to bring the improvement in the existing product along with this the feedback helps the team to create an innovative product (Brohi, et.al, 2014).

The physical evidence for the products is the place where the product is physically available. Nike has maintained a good physical presence in the marketplace because the company is the market leader and has psychological and physical evidence in their marketing. The company marketing managers have manipulated the customer perception of the brand that the products are best then the competitors and stands on the no.1 position in the market (Warrink, 2015).

The company understands their customer needs and demands due to this the company provides the product in their stores so that the customers can see the product before buying it. Along with this, the company provides the demonstration of the new products in the market before launch. The company provides the advertisement and the videos of new products to explain the customers about the products and how the shoes will fulfill their expectations (Thusyanthy, and Tharanikaran, 2015).

This marketing mix concept includes the partnership of the company with its stakeholders that helps in performing the activity. An organization can have four partnerships: –

• The external partnership which includes alliances, competitors, governments.
• Supplier partnership with the goods and service suppliers.
• Internal partnership with functional departments, employees, and internal business units.
• Customer partnership with the final and intermediate customers.

The customer’s partnership includes the customers who are loyal towards the brand. The company owned registered stores are a touching point with the clients. Through, these outlets the company can get direct feedback from the customers (Finchum, 2017). Nike goods are more in line which is a value added to the clients. To create a bond with the customers the company used a social networking site that is joga.com. Through this app, the company can easily understand the needs of the customers (Kotler, 2011).

The company emphasis on the celebrity endorsement and for this the company formed the relationship with the celebrities. Nike is having the relationship with its suppliers and the company distributes around 300 million products annual and licenses the manufacturing of their goods to approximately 900 factories. The company invested approximately $500 million to connect retailers and suppliers. The company manages the association with the company’s shareholders with its investor relation department (Kotler, 2011).

This section of the report includes the evaluation of the strategies that are formed by the company. The marketing mix strategies of the company are based on the core product of the company that is Nike Shoes.

Promotion

The topmost competitor of Nike is Adidas due to which the company brings the changes in the strategies. This competitor offers the wide range of shoes to the customers and maintains a value to compete with the Nike (Cwinkler, 2013). The converse is another competitor that brings the challenges for Nike in terms of looks and styles of the shoes. Nike is having the abilities to provide shoes that are good for the sporting purpose with style and design but Converse is well-known for its unique style and looks instead of sporting abilities. To face the competitor Nike brings the changes in the style and design of shoes (Bhasin, 2018).

Most of the popular shoes of Nike might be going out of style. The footlocker and the recent USB highlighted that the investors are more concerned about the trends that are slowing down. This concern is directly related to the shoes that are offered by the company to the players. There is a change in the trend and people more likely to prefer Air Jordan sneakers which is strong than the Nike (Schlossberg, 2017).

One of the contemporary issues that were faced by the company includes the corporate social responsibility. The company implements the responsibility related to the CSR and the same has been discussed in the annual report of the company. Though, the RED charity campaign was criticised for absence of inefficiency and transparency. Cost of the advertisement increases the revenue through donations by far. Still, this charity movement could be seen as a worth for the consumers because for consumers the products of Nike offers them the feeling of a worthy deal (Africonet.org, 2007). This is the fact that the sustainability hard work signify added customer value in order to customization of Nike goods to the customer needs for the more green and sustainable products.

Apart from the CSR issue, there is the presence of mass media or social issues which affect the company strategy and working. The social activist and critic Michael Moore criticized Nike for outsourcing the jobs into the low-cost sites. There was an interview which was conducted between the Nike Chairman Phil Knight which was presented in Moore’s film “The Big One”. Chairman stated in the interview that he didn’t care about the truth that the 14-year-old children working in one of the Nike factories in Indonesia. This incident created a bad impact on the image of the company. Later, the scenes were removed from the movie and even company claimed that it was misunderstood. This incident directly created the negative impression on the image of the company in the market.

People

The company is offering the shoes mainly for the athletics both for men and women but now it is recommended to the company to offer the formal shoes as well. This is the best way through which the company can extend its variety of shoes and also enhance the target market.

The company should make use of the price adjustment strategy that provides the smooth working. In the price adjustment strategy, there are 7 strategies, out of this strategy the company should implement discount and allowance pricing strategy. In this strategy, the company can provide the rewards to their customers which help the company in grabbing the attention.

It is recommended to the company to make use of one channel distribution system as it includes only one intermediate so the customer doesn’t have to pay the extra amount. Along with that, the company should open its outlets at the prime locations that help the company for targeting a large audience.

Most of the promotional tools are used by Nike to attract more and more customers. It is suggested to the company to make use of the viral marketing after the launch of the new product in the market. It is a form of the online word of mouth marketing. It helps the company in creating the electronic relation with the customers along with this it offers a personal touch and sharing of content. Though, these kinds of campaigns Nike can interact with the large audience in fewer amounts.

It is recommended to the company to provide the standard minimum wages according to the act to the employees who are working in the manufacturing factories of the company. The company should encourage their employees and involve them in the decision-making so that the employees of the company can provide the innovative ideas to the managers of the company.

In the organization, the smooth process is essential for successful implementation of the strategies. One dis-satisfied person might affect the process of the company so the managers should make sure that they take the feedback from the employees. The manager of the company should ensure that their employees are satisfied as this helps the company for the smooth process.

The company should extend physical-evidence of its product in the market so that they can generate the awareness about the product in the market.

Nike should try to increase the number of local customers by forming a strong relationship with them along with this the company can form the partnership with more stakeholders who are going to invest in company’s expansion plans.

The company should ensure that they maintain the inefficiency and transparency of the corporate social responsibility and reflect the same in the annual report of the company. Apart from this, the minimum age for the work is 14 years but depending on the type of work. So, the company should need to be aware when they are hiring an employee. Along with the types of work, there are restricted working hours, the 14 years children should not work more than three hours a day.

Conclusion

Marketing Mix is the combination of the tactics and strategies that are used by the company to execute the marketing plan. The report includes the theoretical concepts related to the marketing mix. The company selected for the analysis is Nike Inc. The company relies on the strategies related to the marketing mix to maximize the growth and profit of the company. Currently, the company is well-known in the international market. Considering, the success of the company in the global markets and its leadership in the industry, Nike reflects the significant rile of the marketing mix in the international business. The report includes the marketing mix and the contemporary issues which were faced by the company.

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